Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 486: A Purpose ()

Neveah read through a file that had been left on her desk, her brows furrowed in concentration...

Or at least Neveah tried her hardest to concentrate but it was almost impossible with Xenon’s intense gaze boring through her from across the room.

It had already been a half hour since they arrived at the city guard base and for the entire time, Xenon’s gaze had been fixed on Neveah in this same manner, unfaltering for longer than the time it took him to blink.

It was not only the stare in itself but the intensity with which he stared that made Neveah completely at a loss on how to cope with his presence.

Xenon stared at Neveah as though he was just seeing her for the first time, with his eyes completely lit up with wonder and adoration, none of which he bothered to conceal.

While Neveah was flattered by Xenon’s adamant and obvious admiration, it was becoming clear to her that it would be impossible to get any work done in Xenon’s company and Neveah now gave a rethink to her decision to have Xenon join her.

"Will you continue staring at me in that manner?" Neveah asked in exasperation.

"There is nothing else I would rather be doing." Xenon replied, feeling no remorse whatsoever that he was making it difficult for Neveah to concentrate.

"Xenon, I have to get these reports sorted, filed and handed in to my father by dawn and you are not helping." Neveah pointed out the obvious.

Xenon sighed helplessly before leaning back on the chair he sat and diverting his gaze for a moment.

Neveah returned her attention to the files she was working on and continued with her work, for a short time before she felt Xenon sneaking another glance.

Neveah placed the report down, breathing a heavy sigh.

"Fine, I will not carry on with this and delude myself that it is working right. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Neveah asked Xenon.

"Veah, I do not want you to be behind on your duties because of me. I am perfectly fine just watching you for the rest of the day." Xenon said quickly but Neveah dismissed his words.

"You are fine with it, but I am not. You can watch me if that is what pleases...but not here."

"I have had no cause to be absent from city guard on duty days for the past few months, today would not be such a great trouble."

"I will get to my duties at dawn, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, I am yet to receive the report I truly am expecting and I guess I would not be getting it today." Neveah assured Xenon.

Xenon perked up at that, getting up to his feet as Neveah did.

"I want to go to your favorite place in the White Dunes." Xenon declared without another moment of thought.

Neveah passed him a look, rolling her eyes as she tidied up her desk and locked away some of the files in a shelf.

"Why do you lock those away?" Xenon asked, still watching Neveah.

"Because these files are classified." Neveah replied.

"And the point of being classified is that only I and my father’s council get to know what it says." Neveah added when Xenon looked on curiously.

Xenon chuckled quietly, tilting his head to the side.

"That is the way it goes now? Lady dune enforcer?" Xenon asked with a raised brow.

"One must know to keep duties aside from..." Neveah began to say but was cut off.

"Pleasure?" Xenon chipped in.

Neveah scoffed beneath her breath, fixing Xenon with a dead pan look.

"I was going to say personal affairs." Neveah replied blankly.

"My bad." Xenon offered, though Neveah could tell he did not feel the slightest bit remorseful about what he had said.

"Right." Neveah murmured.

"The white dunes itself." Neveah said after a moment of quiet.

"My favorite place in the white dunes is the dune itself." Neveah explained when Xenon looked confused.

"But you have limited time and... I cannot fly..." Neveah trailed off for a moment before she continued.

"And so the place I would always go to when I have some free time and cannot go out too far from the city, I will take you there instead." Neveah continued.

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"I think I can understand why you like it..." Xenon murmured, as he stared down at the dune city from the hill they sat on, a perfect vantage point from which one could see the entire expanse of the city, down to the city wall and the white dunes beyond it.

The sun had just begun to set and after a short while of riding and conversing about everything and nothing in particular, they had finally arrived at the spot Neveah was leading Xenon to.

It had taken a about two hours to reach this part of the Dune City and though Neveah knew there was another, much faster way of travel, the time spent had been worth every second of it.

"The view of my city...my home, I wanted it etched into my heart, so I would never forget I now had a purpose." Neveah asserted, her tone barely above a whisper.

"I now understand why you wanted to leave so much." Xenon murmured again.

Neveah glanced over at Xenon, his gaze was also fixed on hers but then he returned his gaze to staring out at the dune city.

"Now, the chill in your voice is barely there...you speak with warmth, and life... you are truly at peace here, Veah. And this was something dragon keep could never give you... Peace." Xenon murmured, a tinge of guilt underlying his words.

Xenon knew he had also played a major role in making Neveah’s days in dragon keep hard, right from when he had insisted on taking her away from her home yet he failed to cherish her as he should have.

"Misha... the woman I mistook you for on that day..." Xenon began quietly.